Free Motion for Extension of Time - District Court of Federal Claims - federal

Case 1:03-cv-02794-TCW

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Filed 01/30/2006

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IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS ____________________________________ ) ACCEPTANCE INSURANCE ) COMPANIES INC., ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) No. 03-2794 v. ) (Judge Wheeler) ) THE UNITED STATES, ) ) Defendant. ) ____________________________________) DEFENDANT'S UNOPPOSED MOTION FOR ENLARGEMENT OF TIME Defendant, the United States, respectfully requests an enlargement of time of seven days, to and including February 10, 2006, within which to file and serve its renewed motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction or, in the alternative, for summary judgment. Defendant's brief is currently due on February 3, 2006. This is our first request for an enlargement of time to the briefing schedule set by the Court in its January 18, 2006 order. Plaintiff's counsel has stated that plaintiff does not oppose this request. The requested enlargement is necessary because of a change in the responsibilities of defendant's counsel. On January 24, 2006, the Court announced that it intended to move forward by four weeks to March 13, 2006 a two-week trial that had been scheduled to begin on April 10, 2006 in Metric Construction, Inc. v. United States, No. 02-167C (Judge Braden). The change in schedule has required defendant's counsel in that case, who is the sole counsel in both this case and that one, to accelerate certain trial preparations involving witnesses who are located in Utah and California. Since the briefing schedule in this case was set, defendant's counsel has also been engaged in, among other matters, preparing responses to plaintiff's proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law in International Data Products Corp. v. United States, No. 01-

Case 1:03-cv-02794-TCW

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459C (Judge George W. Miller), filed on January 20, 2006; and preparing responses to a 52-page post-trial brief and 233 proposed findings of fact drawn from a 2,930-page trial transcript in The Sweetwater, A Wilderness Lodge LLC v. United States, No. 02-1795C (Judge Merow), due on February 1, 2006. The additional time will permit defendant's counsel to complete his consultations with agency counsel and supervisory lawyers at the Department of Justice, and prepare a thorough brief that will be of greatest assistance to the Court. Defendant also respectfully requests, on behalf of both parties, that the following changes be made to the remainder of the summary judgment briefing schedule: March 24, 2006: plaintiff files its response to defendant's motions and its crossmotion for summary judgment (if any) April 24, 2006: May 4, 2006: defendant file its reply and opposition to cross-motion (if any) plaintiff files its reply in support of its cross-motion (if any)

For the foregoing reasons, we respectfully request that the Court grant our unopposed motion for an enlargement of time of seven days, to and including February 10, 2006, to file our renewed motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction or, in the alternative, for summary judgment, and make the other changes to the briefing schedule proposed above.

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Case 1:03-cv-02794-TCW

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Respectfully submitted, PETER D. KEISLER Assistant Attorney General DAVID M. COHEN Director

s/ Mark A. Melnick by Donald E. Kinner MARK A. MELNICK Assistant Director

OF COUNSEL: DONALD A. BRITTENHAM, JR. Attorney Community Development Division Office of the General Counsel U.S. Department of Agriculture 1400 Independence Ave., S.W. Washington, D.C. 20250

s/ John H. Williamson JOHN H. WILLIAMSON Trial Attorney Commercial Litigation Branch Civil Division U.S. Department of Justice 1100 L St., N.W., 8th floor Washington, D.C. 20530 Tel: (202) 307-0277 Fax: (202) 307-0972 Attorneys for Defendant

January 30, 2006

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Case 1:03-cv-02794-TCW

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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I certify under penalty of perjury that on this 30th day of January, 2006, a copy of the foregoing "DEFENDANT'S UNOPPOSED MOTION FOR ENLARGEMENT OF TIME" was filed electronically. I understand that notice of this filing will be sent to all parties by operation of the Court's electronic filing system. Parties may access this filing through the Court's system.

s/ John H. Williamson

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